Before We Commit

Can this carrier’s appointment process support the customer’s required delivery?

By Jim Pearson, Founder, JTR Logistics

A customer has six pallets ready to ship Tuesday. The receiving facility requires an appointment, and the customer needs delivery by Friday.

The carrier’s quoted transit time appears to fit. Appointment delivery is available. The rate is acceptable.

Can we tell the customer the shipment will meet Friday’s requirement?

Before answering, I would want to understand how that carrier actually makes the appointment. When does scheduling begin? Who handles it? What has to happen before a delivery slot can be confirmed?

Those details can determine whether the proposed service supports the customer’s requirement.

What does Friday mean?

First, we need to understand the customer’s deadline. Friday could be a requested delivery date, the last acceptable day in a receiving window, or an appointment already booked for a specific time.

For this example, Friday is the last acceptable delivery day. The receiving facility requires a confirmed appointment, but one has not been booked.

That leaves two things to establish: whether a suitable slot is available and whether the carrier can arrange and execute delivery within it.

A note on the shipment saying “appointment required” does not resolve either question.

When does the carrier start?

Suppose we confirm that the carrier being considered begins scheduling only after the freight reaches its delivering terminal. The shipment is expected to arrive there Thursday.

The plan now depends on obtaining a Friday receiving slot after Thursday’s arrival. We need to know the facility’s booking lead time and whether the carrier’s scheduling and local delivery arrangements can accommodate it.

If the facility requires appointments to be booked two business days ahead, that process does not support the proposed Friday delivery without a verified alternative arrangement.

The quoted transit estimate has not changed. Our understanding of what it can support has.

Another carrier might begin appointment work before pickup or while the freight is moving. That could provide more time to secure a slot, but we still need to verify that the appointment fits the shipment’s expected arrival and the carrier’s delivery plan.

Scheduling earlier can help. It does not, by itself, establish that the commitment is achievable.

Who has accepted the appointment?

Now suppose the customer tells us a Friday appointment has already been secured.

That helps, but we still need the carrier responsible for delivery to accept the arrangement. Does it have the appointment reference, purchase order information and receiving instructions? Has the team planning delivery confirmed it can work to that slot?

An appointment booked by the shipper is only useful to the transportation plan if the carrier can execute it.

We should also establish who follows up if confirmation is missing and who responds if the freight’s expected arrival changes. Those responsibilities need to be clear while there is still time to adjust.

What decision follows?

If the appointment process supports Friday, we have a stronger basis for recommending the service.

If it does not, we need to examine a different arrangement: earlier pickup, an accepted pre-booked appointment, another service, or a revised delivery requirement agreed with the customer.

The answer may involve additional cost. It may also be possible to make the original service work through better coordination. We should establish the options before deciding.

If the process remains unknown, that uncertainty belongs in the recommendation. An available appointment service is insufficient evidence for a firm delivery promise.

What will “on time” tell us?

After delivery, we also need to understand what the carrier’s performance measure includes. How are appointment shipments treated? Which date is used? What happens to the record if the appointment changes?

For this shipment, we should retain Friday as the original customer requirement, along with the appointment history and actual delivery.

A Monday delivery might meet a subsequently arranged Monday appointment while still missing the customer’s Friday requirement. Both facts matter. We then need evidence to determine why the date changed and who could have acted differently.

The appointment code alone cannot explain the outcome.

Why this matters to JTR

This is the kind of operating question behind JTR’s approach to Governed Intelligence and Governed Logistics.

Governed Intelligence concerns the evidence, assumptions and uncertainty behind a recommendation. Governed Logistics applies that discipline to transportation commitments, execution responsibilities and exceptions.

AI can help gather information and identify a gap. The authority to accept the commitment remains with authorized people and operating processes.

In this example, the work begins with one question:

Can this carrier’s appointment process support the customer’s required delivery?

We should be able to explain the answer before asking the customer to rely on it.